Ontario, Canada a 'top 3 destination' for capital investment

According to fDi Intelligence's 2017 report on global greenfield investment, the Province of Ontario accounted for 8% of all foreign direct investment (FDI) into North America in 2016, up from 6% in 2015. Ontario attracted 128 FDI projects, a 17% increase over the previous year's 109, while the value of capital investment also increased from $4.1bn in 2015 to $4.5bn. During the same period, FDI projects in Canada increased 12% from 217 to 242, meaning Ontario accounted for 53%, up from 47% in 2015.

Overall, North America had 19% less capital investment in 2016, with a 22% drop in investment in the U.S. The trend saw Texas slip from the second to fourth spot, and Florida from third to eighth place in terms of leading North American destinations for capital investment.

Leading North American destinations for capital investment

North Americamarket share

State/Province

Investment($bn) 2016

10%

New York

5.8

10%

California

5.8

8%

Ontario

4.5

8%

Texas

4.4

4%

Illinois

2.2

The annual fDi Report is provided by fDi Intelligence, a division of The Financial Times. fDi Intelligence's fDi Markets database is the most authoritative source of intelligence on real investment in the global economy, tracking greenfield investment projects across all industries worldwide.

fDi Markets: Greenfield FDI begins to recover in 2016

In 2016, Fdi Markets tracked 12,644 global FDI projects, which accounted for $776.2 billion in total capital investment while creating an estimated 2,018,291 jobs. The 6% growth in global capital investment is down from a 9% increase experienced in 2015.

Capital investment into Europe declined for a third year in a row, this time by 9%. The decrease was led by a dramatic fall in UK's market share. $34.8bn in capital investment into the UK accounted for just 22% of overall investment into Europe, down from 34% ($53.3bn) in 2015. European countries that experienced growth in capital investment include France (54%), Switzerland (46%) and Germany (51%+).